EARTH DAY FEATURE

NEW - Read Facts and Figures from the AAAS Atlas: - Population and Atmosphere
- Population, Waste and Chemicals

NEW! Population, Environment, and Development: New data from United Nations Economic and Social Development

As Earth Day 2001 approaches, a major new resource has been developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment, to explore the complex and inextricable links between population growth, increased consumption and environmental quality around the world.

The population-environment nexus is gathering momentum in international policy discussions. At the recent meetings of the UN Commission on Population and Development, population-environment interplay was the overarching theme of discussion. This fall the United Nations Population Fund’s annual report – the State of World Population – will also focus on these linkages.

PLANET PARTNER ACTIVITIES Audubon: Population and Habitat: Making the Connection Save the Children: Working with families devastated by floods in Mozambique Population Action International: People in the Balance and Nature's Place: Human Population and the Future of Biological Diversity CARE: Take a Rainforest Journey to Ecuador with CARE

The AAAS atlas explores the relationships between the range of population dynamics (size, growth, distribution and structure) with impacts on ecosystems and natural resources around the world. The information and maps complied in this volume constitute an irreplaceable window on global environmental conditions and how past and future population growth plays a role in the health of the Earth’s natural systems.

In his foreword, the noted botanist and current AAAS President Peter Raven notes that it has been estimated that if today’s population of 6 billion people consumed resources at the current rate of the United States, three more planets comparable to Earth would be needed to support them.

RESOURCES A Better World For All from the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) The Impact of Environment and Economy on Women's Reproductive and Workplace Health from Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO) Caucus of Non-Government Organisations of the NGO Steering Committee to the United Nations from Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) Population and the Environment: A Global Challenge from Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP) Population and Environment online resources from JHU/CCP State of the World 2001 from Worldwatch Institute Emerging Environmental Issues from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Population and Environment Initiative from UNPD Global Warming from April 9, 2001 Issue of Time Magazine WEBSITES http://www.enn.com/ http://www.earthday.net/ http://www.earthdayenergyfast.org/ http://www.sdearthtimes.com/edn/ http://www.popplanet.org/

And the atlas provides a
compelling picture of this conundrum.

During the 20th century, human population quadrupled, from 1.5 to 6 billion people. The AAAS atlas documents the corresponding stresses that have been placed on the Earth’s natural resources and environment. For example, the Atlas notes that:

• 50% of the land on Earth has been transformed for human uses, and we are using more than 50% of accessible freshwater;



• Flows on two-thirds of all rivers on Earth have been regulated in some manner or another, and two-thirds of all marine fisheries are being fished to natural limits or beyond;



• Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere (which help determine global climate) have been increased by 30 percent since pre-industrial times as a result of deforestation and burning of fossil fuels; [See graph]



• Car ownership increased from 320 million in 1980 to 500 million in 1996, with population growth accounting for almost 60 percent of this growth.



• Research has found that some 93% of products used in production do not end up in saleable products, but in waste; and that 80 percent of products are discarded after a single use. [See graph]



• Coral reefs, which are under stress the world over, are estimated to provide resources and services worth almost $400 billion annually.

Following its exploration of the linkages between population growth and the state of the Earth’s environment, the AAAS atlas presents a comprehensive array of data and information about that condition and use of key environmental systems, including natural resources, land use, the atmosphere, waste and chemicals, ecosystems and biodiversity. Together, these chapters constitute one of the most sweeping compilations of environmental data in any volume.

The atlas concludes with useful case studies compiled through collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and Nature Conservancy. The case studies explore population-environment interactions in North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

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